


The Martian: Voyage Home

by LittleMissRavenclaw



Category: The Martian (2015), The Martian - All Media Types, The Martian - Andy Weir
Genre: F/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-09
Updated: 2015-12-09
Packaged: 2018-05-05 19:30:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5387627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleMissRavenclaw/pseuds/LittleMissRavenclaw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>1. Hermes, in totally great condition right! (sarcasm) 2. Dealing with things that were not tied up fully in the book 3. My favourite book! Also... Johanbeck -Also on wattpad I am LittleMissRavenclaw and on fanfiction.net I am LittleMissRowenaRavenclaw.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

[A/N: I have fallen in love with is book. I guarantee, one way or another this ff will be finished. Also, happy to take suggestions!]

*can be read as a kind of sequel to the movie, but it will be understood a lot better if you have read the book*

(Set right after Chapter 26 in the book 'The Martian’)

Chapter 1  
LOG ENTRY: MISSION DAY 687 (2)  
A lot of things have changed in the past eighteen months. And by a lot, I mean a lot! Sadly though, not Lewis' taste in music. Three things of mention, no, four. One, Johanssen and Beck are using Johanssen's room and Martinez is in Beck's quarters. When I first got back it got a little complicated. And by a little I do mean a lot, well not a lot if you think about the fact that I, up until several hours ago was stuck on god damn Mars... But still! Beck's quarters double as the "sick bay," which also happens to be the place where Martinez has been camping out since his quarters apparently tried to turn him into a roast. Which leaves me in the awkward position of having to "kick Martinez out." My bad! Okay, number two, Where do we all sleep once I'm out of the "sick bay"? Three, What the hell have they done to my micro-g plants. I mean seriously, I'm grateful for them coming back and well, rescuing me but as I told my crew mates, "first you desert me on a planet, then you practically kill my plants?!" Venting, over. Number four, I have a message from... Drum roll please! The President. Apparently I am a national hero and an inspiration to many! Anyway, that's enough for today, I'm tired, maybe I'll take some more Vicodin for my two broken ribs and catch some shut eye.  
...  
Beth Johanssen looked out into the vast expanse of stars before her. Normally, she would be breath-taken by them, the mystery, and the unknown. But tonight she was just coffee laden and nodding off everytime she forgot the take a sip from the flask in her hand. "Beth?" a voice behind her asked. "Are you going to sleep in the next few days?" fellow astronaut Chis Beck continued questioningly. "Mhm," Johanssen muttered. Beck sat down beside her and grasped her hand.  
"Careful the caffeine is making you grumpy again," he warned.  
"Your nerd is starting to show," she retorted back, making a move towards the door.  
"Good," he replied back. "Also, steer clear of my quarters, Mark smells, well..."  
"Like cat vomit mixed in with some stink beetle and sweat?" she suggested.  
"Pretty much."  
...  
Venkat Kapoor entered his browser and brought up his email. The man had not received nearly as much sleep since the rescue of astronaut Mark Watney then he would have liked. First that evening, there had been yet another press conference. Then party invitations littered his desk. NASA, of course was throwing once of their own but that was the only one he had attended. Not because he wanted to but, because media relations, i.e. Annie Montrose had insisted, "You nerds need to get out more."  
Rich Purnell had been honoured and celebrated throughout the world as 'the hero who found a way to bring them all back,' while the rest of them now worked on their next problem. The Hermes was not faring well. The tarnishing on the cooling vanes for one. And the malfunctioning heating system was only getting worse.  
There was a knock on Kapoor's door. "Dr Kapoor," Teddy Sanders said from the doorway. Kapoor turned his chair in acknowledgement.  
"Yes?"  
"Go home. Get some sleep."  
"Okay, just finishing up some paperwork." Venkat Kapoor said.  
Sanders left the room just as Kapoor looked back at his browser and opened the first email, titled 'Status report and Hermes system details.' It was worse than he had previously thought. The chemical baths Dr Beck had been using to clean out some of the important life support filters but doing so had irreparably damaged those parts of the craft. That was problem number one. Problem number two, the parts of the ship that protected against radiation were faring pretty badly. They were only at about 40% efficiency. Unless the crew could get them to work at at least 70% efficiency, they were screwed.  
"Fuck," said Kapoor, as he composed an email to Sanders, Montrose and Henderson.


	2. Chapter 2

LOG ENTRY: MISSION DAY 688

Beck is screwed. Well, that was my first thought. Before I found out that Commander Lewis is okay with Johanssen and Beck sharing a room and is apparently not going to throw Beck off the mission?? Apparently she said that: “If it were a normal mission I would be.”-mad that is. Still, good on Beck! No more time to enter logs today, because, Commander Lewis has called a crew meeting in the rec. Thank goodness it only has 0.2 g, because, I tell you, it’s been really hard adjusting to parts of the ship with higher levels of gravity, Mars, I tell you! Still trying to mess with me! One more thing, today I had to use the mass measurement device (a machine that uses displacement to measure mass and therefore kind of weight). Dr Beck, if you’re wondering, was the one who made me use it. Apparently putting it off for a day was bad enough… I swear though, I am rivalling Johanssen for the title of ‘crew member that weighs the least.’ A highly coveted position that Johanssen holds with an iron fist. At least I was not alone in having to be measured though, the whole crew did. We all have to, weekly in fact. Ah the joys of being back on Hermes. Also, I am getting motion (space) sick. Happens to the best of us.

…

“Status reports guys, quickly, I know we’re all tired,” Lewis said. “Johanssen?”  
“It’s the reactor again,” said Johanssen. “The tarnishing is increasing, we may not have enough output to make it back.”  
“Is there anything you can do with the materials onboard?” Lewis asked.  
“Really not much, I will take a look around and see if I can find items for a lab, but that’s our only chance at the moment.” Johanssen replied. “I’m givin’ her all I’ve got captain!” she added in a Scottish accent, sharing a small smile with Beck. Nerds, thought Watney, smiling with the rest of them.  
“Use whatever materials you need.” Lewis said. “Also, Beck, is there any way you can get the life support filters to stop clogging?”  
“They’re worse than ever, dealing with an extra person now,” Beck said looking over at Watney’s feigned shock. “I’ve been discussing this with some of the folks at NASA all morning, and so far we haven’t come up with anything. I have improved the chemical bath I was using earlier, but the difference is so small that it is barely noticeable.”  
“Okay, let me know if you or anyone at NASA comes up with anything,” Lewis said. “Watney, I noticed that the radiation protective shielding is losing efficiency.” she continued.  
Watney grimaced, “I’ve got ‘em up to 60%,” he said, “It’s not ideal of course, but we have three whole days to get them back to at least 70% before we start to die…”  
“Real subtle, man,” Martinez said trying to lighten the mood.  
“Is there anything else?” Lewis asked.  
“I’ve had to make some minor course adjustments, nothing out of the ordinary,” Martinez said.  
“And we are out of sausages.” Vogel stated blankly to the amusement of his fellow crew members. “And telemetry is fine,” He added. “We’re all set to be back just in time for Christmas.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh Vogel...


	3. Chapter 3

LOG ENTRY: MISSION DAY 690

We are going to live. I repeat. I am not going to die from radiation exposure! I should probably explain… Okay, so the coating around the hull that protects us from radiation was wearing down and only at 60% efficiency. Key word: was. Hurrah for Mark Watney! I have saved my crew (technically not my crew). I managed to rig some of the other systems to give the protective coating more power, which I might add, also means that the protective shielding is at 90% efficiency. One bad thing though, I had to destroy some minor wiring to re-wire it to get all that power, here’s hoping Vogel does not find out that there’s only five spare low-input wires left.  
…  
Johanssen sat down at the sysop station in the rec room. She quickly logged in to the hermes system and brought up the new data dump for the day. “Lewis, Vogel,” she called, you have personal messages, I’ve dispatched them to your lap tops. “Watney,” she said, “you might want to come here.” Watney walked easily over from the table where he was reading. He walked up behind Johanssen and audibly gasped.  
“I’m popular,” he announced, looking at the hundreds of messages addressed to him.  
“No kidding,” Martinez said from his seat at the table.  
“Oh, and Martinez,” Johanssen said scrolling down the screen. “You have five messages, hang on, I’ll send them to you now.”  
“Thanks,” Martinez said.  
“No problem.”  
Johanssen scrolled even further down to find a video message from her Dad. She clicked on it and the face of a somber looking man in his late sixties filled the screen. Johanssen smiled, it was nice to see him again, even if it was just a video.  
“Beth,” the video started. “It’s your mother.” The smiled on Johanssen’s face instantly turned downward into a look of shock and surprise. “She, she’s not well. It’s, her hip.” Beck heard the video from the other side of the room and debated whether to go over to the sysop station. The man in the video looked even more worried against the background of Johanssen’s childhood home. “She fell on Saturday. Down the stairs. I didn’t tell you because NASA said it could distract you from your mission. I am so sorry.” He said. “I have attached the medical file, I know how you are with knowing everything,” he continued with a small smile. “I love you.” he said as the video ended.

Beth sat there with a look of surprise on her face as she tore her eyes away from the computer screen. The whole crew was there, looking at her. She knew it was only because they cared and not to be nosy or anything, but she did not care. Johanssen stood up slowly and walked to the door in silence. Once at the door she turned and floated down the hallway in micro-g. Her quarters were claustrophobic at the best of times, but at least she was alone, at least, she thought, she had time to think. Johanssen knew that someone would be sent by her crew members, probably Beck, to ensure that she was okay. But for now, she had a bit of privacy.

…

LOG ENTRY: MISSION DAY 693

So, quite a lot has happened in the last few days. Johanssen is still in shock. We all heard the message her Dad sent her (where he explained her Mom’s (Mum’s) broken hip). They say her Mom (Mum) is going to be fine, though, and Beck, with permission of course reviewed her medical records, he agrees. Everyone on the ship itself is still fine though. Well, I might not be for much longer, DrBossyBeck has been slowly decreasing my Vicodin doses. Anything else? Oh, yes Vogel’s daughter had a birthday. She is ten, I think. His wife sent him a video of her birthday party. Bye, whoever is reading this in the future. Got. to. go. Fix some more things. Technically, I have more time to sleep, more food and less work than my colleagues, but no-one has accounted for the damage that my crew mates have done to my plants while I was gone. Time for damage repair.

…

Mindy Park stood outside the door to Teddy Sander’s office. This was one of the most daunting things she had ever done. Why does he want to see me? Am I fired? Do not be ridiculous… These things ran through her mind so fast and so frequently that she barely heard him call, “Come in.”  
…

It turned out that Mindy was not fired, the very opposite in fact. She had been promoted. Miss Mindy Park was the new head of interplanetary satellite operations.


	4. Chapter 4

LOG ENTRY: MISSION DAY 694

My two broken ribs hurt like hell. I hate Mars (almost as much as disco).

LOG ENTRY: MISSION DAY 695

So… A team at NASA has found a way for Beck’s chemical bath not to destroy the filters completely. YAY!

….

The small brunette pressed several buttons on the screen to bring up the reactor details. At first glance, everything appeared fine, so she closed the menu and returned to her makeshift lab in the rec room.

…

The Ares III crew assembled by the food storage container for dinner that night. They all ate the same thing. Roast chicken with beans and vegetables. A treat food for getting most of the systems running at at almost peek efficiency, a miracle considering the current situation.  
“Johanssen, your Mom (Mum) any better?” Watney asked.  
“Umm,” Johanssen said, caught off guard, “Improving, slowly, they say she can go home in a few days though.”  
“That’s good,” Watney said feeling guilty that he was the reason Johanssen could not be with her parents, Lewis with her husband, Beck with his sister and Martinez and Vogel with their families.

…

Beck sat in Johanssen’s quarters. Well, technically, they were their quarters. No, he decided; her quarters. It being their quarters was too weird. Beck stood up from the small amount of floor space the room had and balanced his computer on his hand. He had three emails awaiting him once he opened the lid of the computer. The first, an update on the progress of the team at NASA who were trying to figure out how to better clean his filters. The second email was from Henderson, telling him to send the crew’s health reports in by Wednesday (in two days time). And the third was from his sister, Amy, telling him to not be an idiot, and not to die… and so on…

Another half an hour of Beck alternating between reading medical journals and answering emails occurred before Johanssen walked in, looking tired, and basically just worn out. “Want to talk about it?” he asked tentatively.  
“Not really.”  
“I see.”  
“Don’t try to ‘doctor’ the answer out of me.” Johanssen said.  
“Whatever you say.”  
“Might talk about it in the morning.”  
“Okay. goodnight.”  
“We act like an old married couple you know.”  
“So i’ve heard.” replied Beck.  
She did not have the heart to continue the conversation. Nor the confidence.

…

Vogel floated through the main hallway of Hermes. He was awaiting a message from his wife about their youngest son. Recently his son had been sick with pneumonia and Vogel was anxious to find out if he was responding to the new medicine that the hospital had him on. 

As Vogel passed the rec room on his way to his quarters he heard loud, indignant yelling. “No!”  
“Well it’s not like you have any better ideas.”  
“I just don’t see why it’s such a bad idea.”  
“Beck…” Vogel heard Johanssen say indignantly.  
He stopped and pondered stopping to see what was wrong, but he had the itching suspicion that they would not take kindly to his presence.

…

Johanssen sat on her bed waiting for Beck. They had argued before and she did not want to let that fester. She had seen first hand what that had produced in some of her friends and their relationships. Then again, Johanssen knew she was hot headed, had a quick temper, but that never stopped her before…

“I thought you’d be asleep,” Beck said as he picked up her clothes which she had thrown into a pile in a corner. “You realise it’d be a hell of a lot easier on everyone if you just put these,” he held up the clothes, “in to be cleaned every once in a while.”  
“Okay,” Johanssen said grumpily. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank-you so much for reading this. It is greatly appreciated. Please share and leave kudos! -Thanks, LittleMissRavenclaw


End file.
